Christ the King Sunday -November 25, 2007

Preached at Providence Lutheran Church, Holland, Ohio

by Pastor Dennis R. King

"A Most Unlikely King"

(Luke 23:33-43)

The grace and forgiveness of Christ the King be with you now and forever. Amen!

There was once a great king who decided to share his wealth with his subjects. He had a spacious compound created in front of his castle and marked it off with a large fence. In the compound he placed all his riches. At its center he positioned his throne. He sat and called his subjects together.

The king announced to his subjects: "I am about to share all of my riches with you. Choose whatever you wish in this compound, and it is yours. Choose wisely, and do not leave the area until I have dismissed you."

His subjects began to scramble over his possessions, taking whatever they wished. In the hubbub, an older woman, small in stature and great in years, approached the king to ask: "Your majesty, have I understood you correctly? If I choose anything in this compound, it will be mine?" The king assured her that she had understood and invited her to choose wisely.

The old woman paused for a moment and thought. Then she looked hard at the king and said: "Your majesty, I chose you!" The crowd grew silent at her words, waiting to hear the king's response. The king smiled at the woman and said, "You have chosen most wisely. Because you chose me, all my kingdom will be yours as well." There was abundant joy in the land that day, for the old woman was much loved, and everyone shared in the king's riches.

Jesus is just such a King. He emptied himself and made himself totally available to those He served as King. In love He invited all to share in His Kingdom.

Today is Christ the King Sunday. But the picture of the king we see is a king on a cross! That is not the throne we expected. It shatters our image of the kingdom. "Power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing"(Rev.5:12) do not seem obvious on the cross!

Yet the cross is the very heart of the revelation of Christ as King. The cross is the very essence of our understanding of God. The cross is the sign of God's victory over sin, death, and the power of evil. It does not look like it, to be sure. It does not look like it to us, and it did not to the people who saw the crucifixion that day. Religious leaders, soldiers, one of the criminals, and common folk alike mocked Jesus as He hung there: "King of the Jews," they laughed. "He saved others, let him save himself," They taunted. They were mocking, of course, but even in their mockery, they spoke the truth.

The King was saving others! His very act of hanging there secured salvation for the world. Christ the King so loved the world He gave Himself! The second thief was more perceptive than the others. He recognized the truth about Jesus and proclaimed it. He responded to it with a request for forgiveness and reconciliation: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.

Like the woman in the opening story, the second thief chose wisely. We too are called to respond to the king's invitation, and like the woman in the story and the thief on the cross, we can choose the king. That means choosing to be like the king, generous and self-giving, becoming a sign of God's compassion and mercy for the world. We choose the king when we choose to identify with the cross of Jesus Christ. In choosing to respond to Christ the King, we are choosing to find our power not in the accumulation of wealth and treasures that fade, but in giving ourselves for others as did Christ the King.

Jesus Christ is King in a way that gives new meaning to the understanding of Kingdom. This meaning is shaped through the generosity and abundance of the king and His example of mercy and forgiveness. Once the richest man of the world left a tip for a hotel staff at the end of a five-day stay in Cyprus. The man left a bag containing one thousand seven hundred , one-hundred dollar bills with a note saying: "A big thank you . . . . This is a small token of appreciation." Divided evenly, the tip amounted to $531.25 for each staff member. The rich man shared a small portion of his wealth with those people as an act of kindness. How much greater, though, is the gift that Jesus, the King of Kings gave to humankind. Jesus is the most generous of Kings. He gives Himself!

Jesus also taught some hard lessons. "Lord, how many times must I forgive?" But Jesus never taught anything He was not Himself willing to live out. Verse 33 says, "But Jesus was saying, Father, forgive them." The verb tense is the imperfect. It denotes a continual saying of this statement. It is possible that Jesus said this over and over again as they were crucifying him. As they drove in the spikes, "Father, forgive them." As they lifted him up and fastened Him to the cross, "Father, forgive them." As they taunted and mocked him, "Father, forgive them." He never deviates a bit from what He taught us. He returned a blessing for their curse. He is King.

In our first lesson from Jeremiah, kings are pictured in much the same negative light as we often see our political leaders. Using the image of shepherds to speak about the kings, the prophet decries their lack of concern for the people: "It is you who have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them" That indictment is followed by the promise of God: I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, who will care for them, and they shall not fear any longer.

We see that promise fulfilled in the shepherd Jesus Christ, whose care and concern for people led him to make the ultimate sacrifice: to give His life for them.

We too are called to respond to the King's invitation. Like the woman in the story and the thief on the cross, we can choose Christ the King. We can choose Christ, the King of power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing-the eternal, redeeming King, who reigns in majesty, forever. We can choose Christ, the compassionate and merciful King. We can choose Christ the generous and self-giving King-a King of promise and reconciliation-the King, who holds all things together. There is no other king. Christ is King.

Amen.